Enter your email Address

You Are Enough.

The words are simple enough, but the meaning is very regularly lost.

Maybe not lost, but dismissed. Tossed aside. Neglected. I think we are all familiar with these words, but if you are anything like me, you see them for a brief moment before snatching them off their shiny, fluffy cloud, crumpling them and shoving them under a rock while looking around to see if anyone is watching.

I like to play ignorant of the fact that I am enough because accepting that fact is HARD. It is easier to internalize the criticisms, compare out, and constantly try to jump to a ledge that is always just a little out of reach. How does that make sense? I’ll just pretend I didn’t know about it and then no one can challenge the fact that I haven’t been accepting it.

I started this blog after coming out on the other side of addiction, after controlling food in an a desperate reach for sanity, and after using exercise to mold myself into a vision of “enough” that I constantly shifted so that I could never achieve it. It has and always will be an inside job and I wanted to try and save others the pain of what I had gone through in coming to what seemed like such a simple revelation.

There are days when I get it and days when I don’t. I have to keep writing this blog because on the days that I don’t, I look to you to help me remember and hopefully on the days that I do, you may come looking for the same thing.

Writing about things is a wonderful way for me to process them. A way for me to think out loud. That being said, when I write posts like these they are often when I am in the middle or just on the cusp of internalizing an important message or principle. I’d rather write about them now than when I have it all “figured out” because I think writing in the middle is more authentic. Granted, I may seem more scattered, but aren’t we all?

SO, coupled with the information I know to be inherently true and the fact that we are often far more compassionate with others than we are with ourselves, I have a few things to say to you. Please listen.

1. There is no perfection. Anyone who believes there is or insists that you should attain that status is not worth your time. You are enough.

2. There is no goal that you could ever achieve that will convince you that you are enough. If you don’t already believe it before you get there, you still won’t once you do.

3. You are an incredible person. I don’t even know you, but I can tell you without a doubt that there is something in you that sets you apart from everyone else. You need to find that thing and you need to embrace it. Nurture it.

4. I know that other people’s opinions, external comparisons, and your own negative self-talk may have brought you to a place where you question your self-worth. Some days are worse than others, but realize that on every day you are enough.

5. As long as you know you are enough, no one can ever tell you that you’re not.

I have spent a lot of time trying to be what I thought others and the world wanted me to be. It has been one of the most tiring existences. I’m not sure where I got my concept of what the world wanted me to be, because when I actually realized what that was, it had nothing to do with what my brain told me.

The more that I speak from the heart and take the time to nurture the things that make me unique, the more receptive I find the world to be. Being myself requires far less work and because of that I am able to invest more time in developing who I am. Finding a voice. Changing the world.

The world wants you to be exactly who you are because nothing will happen if you aren’t. You are enough and your enough is what changes the world.

Could not relate more to these words. In fact just the other week it was my ‘weekly belief’ to remember ‘I am enough’ – it’s definitely something I need to keep at the forefront of my mind. It’s so easy to catch myself behaving or thinking like I have something to prove to the outside world. Human nature I guess!Cat recently posted…(Vlog) Experiments in Peganism and Macro Tracking

so beautifully said and well-written, thank you!
i had a moment the other night, my husband was out of town and i went over to some friends for dinner. i was feeling ‘off’ and ended up totally binge drinking and eating. i felt pretty bad, but then something just clicked in my head: who cares if i ate too much???? SERIOUSLY who cares??? lesson learned, i realize that i didn’t need that much food or 5 dinners, but who cares. it happened. i was able to move on. the next day i felt pretty sick from the night before but i got over it. i finally realized something: I HAVE PERMISSION TO LOOK AND FEEL HOWEVER I WANT. I HAVE PERMISSION TO EAT ALL THE FOOD OR NONE, WHO CARES! sorry to yell but it was an enormous revelation 🙂 thank you, Erin!danielle saucy smith recently posted…you eat sriracha with wha????

Wonderful post. It’s incredible how often we forget to love ourselves. It’s so so important, but taking the time to reflect each and every day is so very needed. Thank you for a fabulous post on a fabulous Thursday! : )Jamie recently posted…#BreakYouMake Project

Loving the crap out of this post. And I totally needed this reminder. I’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression lately and messages like this get lost in all of the craziness going through my head. Thanks for writing this for your lovely self and all of your readers. Keep being your amazing self!Beth @ Running with the Sunrise recently posted…How to Make Meditation More Relaxing

#2 for real. This is something I know but sometimes just need to be reminded of. I see this in all sorts of manifestations-people never thinking they are thin enough when they lose weight, never pretty enough, fast enough, smart enough, qualified enough, etc. It sucks. I wrote about comparisons a few weeks back and that definitely makes it tougher because we are always comparing. Enough is enough!Lauren recently posted…Get Rid of the Workout Gear Stink {HEX Performance Detergent Review & Giveaway}

So well said, lady. So well said. #2 is one that especially hits home for me since it’s something I seriously had to work hard at overcoming. I can’t even tell you how many goals I’ve set and reached, only to find out that they never made me happy. I felt like I was constantly chasing something, never realizing that what I needed was just a change in attitude. Sometimes I think people need to spend more time working on self-acceptance than they do with trying to reach food/fitness/life goals…Amanda @ .running with spoons. recently posted…. oatmeal cookie dough mug cake .